
R E P» O H T 



>l A VISVI lO IHh 



SIOUX AND FiMKA INDIANS 



THE MISSOURI K i \' E R 



VV"I1-.JL.1AM VVKl^SH 



JULY , Is 



V\ A S H J N G T O N 

O V F II X M E N J P R I X T 1 X G 
1872. 




Qass f 90 



R E P»OR T 



OF A VISIT TO THE 



SIOUX AND PONKA IXDIAXS 



THE MI8S0UEI EIVEE, 



W I I.LI AM WELSH 



THE SECRETARY OF THE INTERIOR. 



JULY, 1872. 



WASHINGTON: 

GOVEKXMKA'T PRINTIXG OPTICE. 

1872. 



}^^ J 11909 

0. ora 






DEPARTMENT OP THE INTEEIOE. 
^ Washington, D. C, July lOtJi, 1872. 

(^ Deak Sir : 

I have received, and read with great satisfaction, your valuable 
and interesting Report of the 8th instant, in regard to the Indian Agencies 
that have been assigned to the Board of Missions of the Protestant Epis- 
copal Church. I have not time to refer to it in detail, but I wish to say that 
the facts which you have presented, and the suggestions made, are of 
great value to our Indian Service, and I trust the Report will have a wide 
circulation. 

I feel sure that this report will strengthen the faith of all right minded 
persons, and create new zeal in the breasts of those who believe that 
truth, justice and humanity, are sure to be rewarded by Omnipotence. 
I am, very truly, yom-s, 

C. DELAXO, 

JSecretary. 
Hon. William Welsh, 

PMladelplda, Pa. 



The folio wiDg letter from the bishop of the Protestant Episcopal Chiiroli 
in the diocese of Nebi-aska, and in the Territory of Dakota, fnlly indorses 
the annexed report. 

Omaha, Jiili/ 18, 1872. 

My Dear Mr. Welsh : I have only time, on a hasty visit home in the 
midst of a visitation, to tell yon how rejoiced I have been on reading your 
most admirable letter to the Secretary of the Interior on onr Indian mis- 
sions, &.c. 

It is the most complete, the most satisfactory, and the most enconragiug 
document of the kind ever put before our people. I sincerely hope it will 
be published entire in the " Spirit of Missions," and in other more permanent 
forms. It is just such an array of facts, and of wise, humane, and forcilde 
pleas, that will arouse the church and the nation to their duty to the Indian. 
I am delighted to see in print over your name such a vindication of the pol- 
icy of the Government. May the Lord bless and reward you for your noble 
words and nobler works in behalf of this poor race ! 
Ever your attached friend. 

ROBERT H. CLARKSON. 



Philadelphia, July 8tli, 187i2. 
To THE Hon. Columbus Delano, 

Secretary of the Interior, 

Wasldngton : 
My Dear Sir : 

I returned to this city on tlie 4th inst., after spending more than six 
weeks in an official visitation to most of the Indian Agencies, that were, 
about eighteen months since, placed by the United States Government, 
under the control of the Board of Missions of the Protestant Episcopal 
Church. 

Although my visitation was made at the request of that Missionary 
Board, yet as the Church is merely the representative of the Government 
in nominating and supervising Indian Agents, there is an obvious pro- 
priety in making a semi-official report to you, especially as governmental 
action is asked for. 

I was accompanied by Mr. E. C. Kemble, the Secretary of our Mis- 
sionary Indian Commission and by the Rev. S. D. Hinman, our experi- 
enced and successful Missionary to the Sioux Indians. He speaks their 
language fluently, and has the affection and confidence of a large propor- 
tion of the Sioux nation. I was much favored, throughout the entire 
visitation, by the presence of a lady of great intelligence and experience, 
who sympathises deeply with Indians. As a woman she was able to in- 
vestigate thoroughly the moral and industrial condition of Indian girls 
and women, with the view of intelligently directing appropriate means 
for benefiting them, and stirring up her sisters in the Church by jDen and 
voice, to the now hopeful work of bringing Gospel light and love to our 
home heathen, who have too long been sitting in darkness and timorous 
superstition. The Rev. J. A. Paddock, of Brooklyn, New York, a mem- 
ber of the Executive Committee of our Indian Missionary Commission, 
joined us in time to visit the Ponkas, the Yanktons and the Mission of the 
Episcopal Church on the Santee Sioux Reservation. 

Near the close of my trip I met, at Council Bluffs and at Omaha, Gen. 
Cowan, Assistant Secretary of the Interior, and also Mr. John Delano, 
your son and Secretary, and Mr. Turney, a member of the Governmental 
Commission. 

As I was fresh from conferei-ices with Indians, and they were just start' 

(5) 



ing to meet the wild Sioux or Tetons, as they are termed, our confer- 
ences were free and mutually profitable. 

To give defiuiteness to my report, I must state the names and locations 
of the Indian tribes, that, less than two years since, the then Secretary 
of the Interior, acting for the President of the United States, pressed 
upon the Missionary bodies of the Protestant Episcopal Church, claiming 
their control and supervision of certain tribes, although unsolicited and 
undesired. 

1. PONKA INDIANS. 

This tribe, about 700 in number, is located on the west bank of the 
Missouri River, in Dakota Territory, at the southeastern extremity of the 
great Sioux Reservation. 

It is separated from the State of Nebraska by the Niobrara River, 
which can be forded in all seasons. The Ponkas are affiliated with the 
Omahas, and speak the same unwritten language. 

2. YANKTON INDIANS. 

This is one of the fourteen tribes of Sioux or Dakota Indians that are 
in Dakota, Montana and Wyoming Territories. This tribe numbers 
2,000, and is located on the east bank of the Missouri River, about sixty 
miles above the town of Yankton. Their Reservation begins at Choteau 
Creek, and continues along the river Missouri, about thirty-five miles, 
up to the Fort Randall ]\Iilitary Reservation, extending many miles 
back from the river over high prairie land only suited to grazing. 

3. YANKTONNAIS SIOUX INDIANS. 

This tribe, about 1,000 in number, is located on the east bank of the 
^Missouri River, about one hundred miles above the Yankton Agency. 
The official designation is, " The Agency of the Upper Missouri," but it 
is usually called Crow Creek, and was foi-merly known as Fort Thompson. 

4. LOWER BRULE SIOUX INDIANS. 

These Indians, estimated at 2,500, are under the control of the Agent 
of the Yanktonnais, and are located on the west bank of the Missouri, 
extending from the moirth of the White Earth River, up to a point oppo- 
site to Crow Creek Agency. The stiJ-agency buildings are about nine 
miles from the Agency, and on the opposite bank of the Missouri. A com- 
pany of United States soldiers is there, principally needed to hold the 
lawless whites in cheek. 

5. MINICONJOU, SANS ARC, TWO KETTLE, AND OTHER SIOUX. 

The Agency for these Indians, varying in number from 2,000 to 5,000, 



is on the west bank of the Missouri River, below the mouth of the 
Cheyenne River, from which the Agency takes its name. It is about nine 
miles above Fort Sully, and one hundred miles from Crow Creek. 

The Sioux Reservation above this, is at Grand River, under the charge 
of the Roman Catholic Church. If the Agent had been on the Reserva- 
tion, I would have gone there, not as an official visitor, but from personal 
interest in him and his work. 

The Sioux Indians, at Grand River, and at the Cheyenne Agency, are 
of the same general character, and many of them move from place to 
place. 

These upper Agencies are just now points of the greatest interest and 
difficulty, as the roving hostile Indians come there to trade, and to pro- 
cure food when suffering from hunger. Some few of these Indians that 
have recently come in, are discourteous to their agents with the view of 
keeping up their standing with the wild roving Sioux ; whilst others, who 
were, until recently, leaders in the hostile camps, are already well ad- 
vanced in agriculture and other civiliaiug occupations. 

The other three Agencies, under the care of the same Missionary 
Board, cannot be reached from the Missouri River. 

These are the Eastern Shoshones and Bannocks, in Wyoming Territory, 
and the agencies for the Ogallalla Sioux, under Red Cloud and other 
chiefs, and the upper Brule Sioux,, under Spotted Tail and others. 

These agencies will, perhai)S the coming autumn or sooner, if it appears 
necessary, be visited from the Union Pacific Railroad. 

"We called at the old Whetstone Agency, on the west bank of the 
Missouri, above Fort Randall. It was the location of the Upper Brule 
but is now a depot for supplies, guarded by a small squad of soldiers. 
The Agency buildings and barracks appeared to be in good order, and 
there is a prevailing belief that the Upper Brule Indians must again be 
brought there to prevent discord between them and the Ogallallas, under 
Red Cloud. Their young men can then be restrained from going on war 
parties against Indians — the Pawnees, the Ponkas and the Arickarees — 
located peacefully on their respective Reservations. 

Col. Stanley, the Commander at Fort Sully, one of the best friends the 
Indian has in all that region, accompanied us in our six days' journey 
from Sioux City to Sully. We were glad to learn from him and other 
officers of high standing, that army officers generally, not only feel officially 
bound to sustain President Grant's policy with the Indians, but that it 



8 

meets with their cordial approval, as the best and indeed the only solution 
of the difficult problem of Indian civilization. 

Col. Stanley, although strict in the performance of his duties, has the 
respect of all the Indians in that region and the affection of many of 
them. 

He has confidence in them and trusts them, and they have not forfeited 
his confidence. He was present at our public conference with the Indians 
near Fort Sully. 

CHEYENNE AGENCY. 

The badly located buildings at this Agency are inadequate, disgraceful, 
and injurious to much of the provisions sent there. Bats and other 
vermin have very appropriately claimed the buildings as their own ; and 
fortunately the Missouri is washing away that bank of the river, com- 
pelling the Agent and the army officers, from time to time, to move their 
quarters farther inland. 

The weekly issue of provisions occurred the day after our arrival, and 
this enabled us to see nearly all the Indians in their lioliday costume. 
They were very quiet and well behaved, and enjoyed various kinds of 
sports ; one game was a foot race by old women, a pony being the prize 
Whether engaged in their sports or in subdividing tlie allotment of pro- 
visions, there did not seem to be any unkind acts, or even harsh icords. 
I was very glad at the public council, held that morning, to hear com- 
plaints that the rats bad fouled their flour, and that the meat was soiled 
by being dragged through the dust, as it seemed like the dawning of 
civilization on a debased people. 

Elsewhere I had seen dogs feeding for hours upon the carcasses of the 
beeves, before distribution was made to the Indians. This is an old habit, 
but it must be changed, as the Indians are offended by it when they begin 
to show the humanizing influences of civilization. 

Eighteen months since, when I held a conference with this barbarous 
people, their council-chamber was ornamented with human scalps, ex- 
tended on small hoops, and elevated on poles, such as we use in displaying 
our banners.* 

On this occasion there were no such evidences of barbarism. We were, 
however, notified that the council would be disturbed by an impudent 
Indian, who desired thus to gain the favor of the hostile party and of 
certain lew whites. 

It WIS stated that he acted under the promptings of men, whose interests 
had been interfered with by the uprightness of Agent Kowes. 



After my opening remarks, Burnt Face, a leading chief, replied. It 
was touching to hear his apologetic opening, confessing that he and his 
brother had quarrelled, and although the fault was almost entirely with 
the brother. Burnt Face merely confessed his own sins, without referring 
to his brother's still greater iniquities. 

He and others asked why telegraph poles, the usual precursors of rail- 
roads, had been placed on Indian reservations without the consent of the 
Indians having been first obtained ; and also, Avhy white men persisted in 
building a railroad through the hunting grounds of the Indians, without 
first agreeing upon a compensation for thus destroying or driving away 
their subsistence. When Burnt Face had finished an eloquent speech, 
Bull Eagle, the impudent young Indian already referred to, arose without 
waiting for speeches by chiefs and other superiors, as is usual. He 
marched forward, and snatched the notes of Burnt Face's speech from 
Mr. E. C. Kemble, who was acting as Secretary, tearing them in pieces, 
and saying that all icMte men are liars, and ought to leave the Indian's 
country and never come to it again. 

This trifling incident is only noteworthy, because it revealed the fact 
that Bull Eagle stood alone, all others being courteous to me, and well- 
disposed towards the whites. 

It seems that Indians are just as desirous of having their speeches re- 
ported as any youthful member of Congress, when making his maiden 
speech. 

An Indian, known as John Sans Arc, put an extinguisher on Bull Eagle, 
by proclaiming that he was as fond of eating white man's food, and of beg- 
ging for more, as any other Indian. 

The other speakers referred feelingly to the proposed Black Hill's expe- 
pedition, and also said that the Government was not fulfilling its pledge 
to furnish them with work-oxen and cattle for breeding. They said, truly, 
that there were many Indians quite able and willing to take care of them. 

In this plea these Indians are right, and it is specially important to them, 
for in the dry region extending from below Crow Creek to the Grand 
River Agency, agriculture is rarely productive, whilst herding cattle and 
raising stock would be very profitable. 

Intelligent Texan herders testify to the nutritious quality of the buftalo 

grass of that region, in winter as well as in summer. Little snow falls there, 

but lower down the Missouri, where there is more rain, the snow storms 

are frequent and severe. Last winter over 1200 oxen perished from one 

O 



10 

herd, tliat the beef contractor attempted to winter on a farm above 
Yankton, 

It was very interesting to listen to the number of apologies that were 
made for the rudeness of Bull Eagle, who told Col. Stanley the next day 
that he did not mean to be disrespectful. In the evening of the same 
day we rode on horseback, wholly unarmed, up the ]VIissouri River, to- 
wards Little Swan's Camp, at the mouth of Cheyenne Rivei', returning 
long after dark, without even the thought of danger. At night tlu'ee 
prominent chiefs sought a private interview, which continued until the 
small hours of the morning. They asked me to blot from my memory the 
folly of that young man. Little Swan, from whose camp two bullets were 
fired into a steamboat, formerly a hostile chief, but now a cultivator of 
the soil, said that Bull Eagle's conduct caused a painful recollection of 
the time when he also was insulting to white people. 

That long, frank interview with three intelligent and earnest Indians 
deeply impressed me with the fair-mindedness of these men, when honor- 
orably treated, even before the civilizing influences of Cliristianity had 
reached their minds and hearts. 

Every point they made was just and tenable. If such men could be 
selected from the Reservations nearest to hostile camjjs, to act as negotia- 
tors, I feel sure that most of our difficulties with the Indians could be 
adjusted, provided there is for a few years as much liberality by Congress 
as is desired by all the officers of the army with whom I conversed. 
Most of the difficulty with hostiles arises from our lack of liberality 
to those who are living peaceably on Reservations. 

On the following day we drove down to the portion of the Cheyenne 
Reservation opposite Fort Sully, and there we were glad to see, not only 
fields well cultivated by Indians, but also comfortable log-houses built by 
them. 

These Indians made a strong plea for a school, and arrangements have 
been made to provide a missionary and teachers for this Resei'vatiou. 

You have no doubt ere this received the resignation of Agent Kowes, 
and the nomination of ]\Ir. Henry TV". Bingham, of Faribault, ]\Iinnesota, 
who is strongly recommended by Bishop Whipple, and by business men 
to whom he is favorably known. 

Mr. Bingham is the brother-in-law of the Rev. S. D. Hinman, our 
Missionary to the Santee Sioux, Nebraska. His wife accompanies him, and 
she seems to be equally well adapted to the difficult and important work 
of civilizinji the Indians, who are in constant intercourse with the roving 



11 

Teton Sioux. Mr. Kowes did uot take his family, not intending to re- 
main permanently on an Indian Reservation. 

The day we left Cheyenne a hostile Sioux wounded an unarmed soldier 
with an arrow and then escaped to the camp of the roving Indians. 
There is a natural enmity against soldiers, therefore it is unwise for them 
to wander away from the camp alone and unarmed. Little Swan was 
much grieved that guns were fired from his camp, although by strangers, 
who escaped immediately. This lawless act was owing to a paroxysm of 
grief and rage occasioned by tidings of the killing of relatives on the 
Platte River. Wild Indians are unreasoning when they first hear that a 
relative has been killed, and here lies the chief danger of ti-avcllin"- near 
to them, 

YANKTONNAIS INDIAXS. 

Some of this band of Sioux, numbering about one thousand, spend the 
winter at Crow Creek Reservation, and go out in the spring to plant on 
the James River, where there is abundant rain. These Indians are all 
thox'oughly peaceable, but have settled down into a lethargic condition, 
leaving most of the field-work to their wives, and manifesting less am- 
bition than at my last visit, to have their children taught. They evinced 
much interest in us, and did me especial honor by cooking a dog for me, 
inviting all of my party to the feast. They actually complained that 
their Agent was building some houses for them, viewing it as an innova- 
tion upon the habits of their forefathers. 

I will not here dwell further upon details, intending to suggest string- 
ent remedial measures at the close of this report. The Yanktonnais com- 
plain bitterly of the builders of the telegraph line to Fort Sully, because 
they defrauded them of a part of the sum they agreed to pay for poles 
cut on their land. 

If the entire sum has not yet been paid by the War Department, can 
you not delay payment until these wards of the nation are settled with 
by the contractors, and one just cause of irritation thus removed ? 

The army officers and all others in that vicinity speak in the highest 
terms of the Agent, Dr. Livingston, who has had hard work in purifying 
the reservation from squaw-men and the neighborhood from whiskey 
ranches. This was not effected without risk of life and freauent manifesta- 
tions of personal bravery. 

This agent has kindly agreed to make provision for the IMissionary 
whom we intend soon to send to Crow Creek, and for a lady of expei'i- 



12 

ence, who probably ere this has gone from the Santee Mission to show 
kindness to the Yanktonnais, and draw their children into school. 

These Indians were present, and manifested much interest in our 
Sunday sei'vices, at which a child of a Christian Santee was baptized. 

White Ghost, the son and successor of a noble old chief, who died just 
before my last visit, presented me with the beautiful pipe that was 
smoked at the council, as an evidence of his good will. We visited the 
good old man's grave, and also that of his brother, a chief who died since 
my former visit. 

LOWER BRULE SIOUX. 

Both bands of these Indians were present at our conference at Crow 
Creek, and we also met them sepai'ately at their two camps. That of 
Iron Nation and White Buffalo Cow is near tire sub-agency, where the 
United States troops are stationed. The officers speak in the highest 
terms of all the Lower Brule Indians, who. are peaceful and remarkably 
moral, because they have not had much contact with white people. We 
arranged for the establishment of a school, and for ministering women to 
give it efficiency by visitations to sick and sorrowing Indians. We then 
drove over high prairie bluffs, and through miry rivers, to the camp of 
Little Pheasant and Medicine Bull, numbering two hundred lodges. It 
is beautifully located at the confluence of the White Earth and Missouri 
Kivers. This is a genuine Indian camp, without a white person or a 
house of any kind. 

The chief, Little Pheasant, cordially welcomed us at his "tipi," 
which our party, comprising two ladies and five gentlemen, occupied by 
day and by night, with the chief, his wife, and three children, two of 
them being daughters nearly grown. 

A fearful tlumder and wind storm occurred at night, testing the firmness 
of this form of tipi, which is constructed like a Sibley tent. As one pole 
after another seemed to yield unduly to the jiower of the blast, the girls 
stayed them by driving the pointed end of a stick into the ground, and 
then placed the crotched end against the yielding tent-pole. 

Immediately after our arrival in the afternoon, a hereditary chief, the 
wearer of a medal of President Grant, formally invited us to a dog-feast. 
The fatling had been killed, cakes hastily baked, and coifee made, that 
we might receive the highest honor shown by Indians. 

That evening we conferred privately with some of the chiefs, but they 
begged that we would not hold council before the next day, that they 
might confer tlirouirh the ni<>ht and bring their wives and children to the 



conference. "We observed that Little- Pheasant did not close his eyes 
during the night because he was fearful that two or three hostile In- 
dians who were on a visit to the cami), might take a fancy to the team of 
Government mules that an officer had driven down. 

In the morning the Indians made an amphitheatre of poles and tent 
covers, arranging themselves around it, according to established rules of 
precedence. They looked very unlike the almost nude beings we had 
seen the afternoon before, lolling in their tipis, or under some shady 
adjacent bower, fanning themselves with eagle's wings. Now they were 
fancifully di-essed and painted, and they seemed instinct with life. 

Their most urgent pleas, being well founded, were readily granted by the 
Agent who was present. Hithei'to, these Indians only remained six 
months at their planting ground, because the steep blufis and miry 
streams that intervened between it and the sub-agency, where suppUes 
are issued, become impassable in inclement weather. It is apparent that 
Indians so situated can gain but slowly in civilization, and are not likely 
to acquire property and become thrifty and self-supporting. 

The Agent, at our solicitation, agreed to erect a log store-house and 
furnish their rations at the camp. This made them very happy, but the 
shrewdness of Indian diplomacy was very manifest, for they all insisted 
that their Great Father in "Washington should fulfill his promises, to 
furnish them with work-oxen and cattle for breeding, before they send 
their children to school. 

They argued their case very forcibly, by showing that hostile Indians 
would not leave their wild and lawless life unless they saw that their 
brethren on the Reservations were trusted, and had something beyond a 
dole of daily food that necessarily deteriorates the Indian. 

They had evidently agreed among themselves to insist persistently that 
this plea should be granted, and they thought they could gain their point, 
for they knew how anxious we all were to have their children educated. 

I told them that their Great Father in Washington had an Indian 
heart, and that he was well disposed to do all that the great council of 
this nation would authorize him to do ; but, if I was to tell him that his 
red children refused to trust him, and that they were unwilling to comply 
with a condition in the Peace Commissioners' Treaty, under which they 
obligated themselves to send their children to school, he might feel him- 
self constrained to order the discontinuance of the issue of rations. I 
said, however, that as they viewed me as their special friend, I would say 



14 

nothing to tlieir Great Father atiout my visit to them, and that they 
might also forget that we had been there. 

Before we left the Reservation that afternoon, the chiefs came and said 
that they did want a Missionary and school very badly, but that they 
needed the cattle so much, they thought they could, by bargaining, get 
both things they wanted. 

We agreed to found a Mission establishment, with male and female 
teachers and visitors, under the supei'vision of a Missionary who is to be 
located at Crow Creek. 

At the Council the head soldiers and such young men as are too often 
on the war-path, spoke through the elected head of their band — an 
association formed to dissuade any of the Lower Brules from being ex- 
cited by war narratives, and duped and decoyed to take the war-path. 
The band also i^romotes temperance by preventing the wood-choppers 
and other whites and half-breeds who have settled on the opposite banks 
of the Missouri, from introducing whiskey into the Reservation. 

These Indians manifested entire confidence in us, as they said, because 
we belonged to the family of the Great Spirit, and desired to do them 
good, without asking anything in return. They and the other Indians 
know that we have never taken any of their annuities to support our Mis- 
sions. Last year one of the sisters trained at the Philadelphia Memorial 
House visited them, and communed with their wives and daughters. 

This season, when the chiefs went to the Yankton Agency, where this 
sister is performing her labors of love, they begged her to come and teach 
their women the ways of the whites, and to lead them into the better way 
of life. 

The crops cultivated by this band of Lower Brules looked well, and 
the Indians obtained a promise from the Agent that he would break 
more prairie sod this summer, that they might extend their cultivation 
the coming season. 

YANKTON SIOUX RESERVATION. 

As we entered it from the north, the Chief White Swan was at the 
door of a pretty Chapel, which he had aided in building, and in which he 
and his people worship. It seemed almost miraculous that a chief, once 
noted for bravery on the war-path, now clothed with the garments of 
civilization, and ' ' in his right mind, ' ' should welcome us, with evident 
satisfaction to the House of God, and to the school in which the children 
of his band are instructed. At a subsequent interview, asked for by 
Christian Yanktons, White Swan, in an eloquent speech, showed his 



15 

simple faitli and the strengtli of his trust. He said all the white men 
who came before those sent by the Great Spii'it made vain and unreli- 
able promises, whilst those now sent took words from God's Book, which 
were true and ever-enduring. He gave this illustration : Although great 
forests are swept away by the tornado, yet when the trunk of a tree 
without its branches is buried deep in the earth, even the largest steam- 
boat can by its help outride the most violent storm ; so we Indians have 
now that to which we can with certainty cling. He asked us to look 
at the noble band of Christian young men about him, as they had 
withstood great trials and temptations, their presence spoke louder than 
any words of his. Soon after we reached the Mission House and 
principal Chapel, the Indians began to assemble for their weekly practice 
in sacred music. Yoices of young men, that might otherwise have 
been shrieking the savage war-whoop, were now sweetly singing 
"Nearer, my God, to Thee," in the liquid language of the Dakotas. 
The lad who played the organ, with full harmony, is an Indian, the son of 
a chief. About a year since, after he had been taught at the day-school 
to pray, he plead earnestly to be received into the Mission House, saying 
" In my father's house I have no place to pray." The Christian name of 
William Selwyn was given to him, and he has since then walked worthy 
of his name and of his Christian profession. Like many other Indians, 
his musical talent is quite remarkable, for with a little instruction from 
Daniel Ilemans, the Santee Indian Deacon, William performs very credit- 
ably the varied music of our Church Service. On Sunday the Church 
was filled at nine o'clock and at half-past ten with Indians, and I ob- 
served that Strike-the-Ree, the principal chief, and Deloria, the chief of 
the half-breeds, were present at both services, seeming to be reverent 
worshippers. Children formed part of the early congregation, and some 
of them were also assembled in the afternoon for catechising. The suc- 
cess of our mission to the Yankton Sioux Indians has exceeded our 
most sanguine expectations. Most of the chiefs have been baptized or 
are using their influence in favor of Christianity ; one or two of them, 
however, still favor the heathen party, which is weakening day by day. 
Young men, belonging to the White Horse Band and the Grass Band, 
asked for an interview to assure me that the whole power of their or- 
ganizations would contiime to be exerted in favor of Christian practices. 
Much credit is due to the Rev. S. D. Hinman, who originated and con- 
tinues to supervise our Mission, and to the Rev. J. W. Cook, who for 
more than two years has devoted himself to this self-denying work with 



16 

primitive zeal and efficiency. Much, very much, can be accomplished 
among our Indians by introducing the industries of civilized life, by 
teaching adults and children in schools, and by the faithful illustration 
and enforcement of revealed truth in the Church, when aided by public 
worship and the Sacraments of our holy religion. We have, however, 
been constrained to illustrate Christianity, by embodying it in self-deny- 
ing and sympathizing acts performed in Christ's name and for His sake. 
There lies the great secret of our success in dispelling superstition and 
prejudice, and in reaching minds and hearts which seemed to be unap- 
proachable. The daily and almost hourly acts of kindness to the sick and 
sorrowing and to the neglected ones, silently but irresistibly dispel the 
prejudices against Christian men and ministering women, which are 
naturally stirred up by the conjurors of the tribe. The occupation and 
support of these heathen medicine-men leave them as Christianity ad- 
vances ; therefore, where words have not been preceded by Christian acts, 
these conjurors have stir-red up the whole community, and in some in- 
stances have driven off both missionaries and teachers. Fortunately there 
is a power that God has placed in the hands of Christians which is every- 
where and under all circumstances irresistible, for the Holy Spirit works 
in it and through it. "With such holy ministries, not only the warlike 
Sioux, but even the Apaches and Comanches, can eventually be success- 
fully reached ; but without practical exhibitions of Christianity the 
unsu^bducd and untamed red man will continue to cry "blood for 
blood." 

The improvement of the Yankton Sioux in temporal things is 
quite as marked as in spiritual. A few years since the men viewed 
manual labor of all kinds as degrading, except when on the chase or 
war-path. Then, they could not be hired to bring water from the Mis- 
souri, and the Santee Sioux were performing much of the labor on this 
Agency, and receiving wages therefor. Now, most of the Yankton In- 
dians are anxious to work for wages, and many of them have built com- 
fortable log-houses with their own hands, on lands which they hope 
soon to obtain by allotment. From their own savings many have pur- 
chased wagons and horses and articles of household comfort. Their 
Agent is doing all he can to promote industrious habits, and in other ways 
to aid in civilizing them ; and I was glad to learn that the Indian De- 
partment had given him authority to build a slaughter house, and thus to 
remove one of the brutalizing influences before referred to. The most 
intelligent and influential of the Yankton Indians expressed in their 



17 

spceclies a strong desire to aid the Cliurcli and the Government in civil- 
izing their roving wild brethren. They said that visits were constantly 
made by such to the Yankton Reservation, but those who were hostile to 
the Government, finding the Indians on Reservations poorer and less 
independent than themselves, see no inducement to abandon their 
wild life. The Yanktons say, when we get cattle and farms vie can con- 
vince the wild men and their wives that a settled life is better than a 
roving one. There is not half as much arable land on the entire Yank- 
ton Reservation as each Indian could get by leaving his tribe and becom- 
ing a citizen ; still, there is an unlimited extent of high prairie well 
suited to flocks and herds. 

Our exit from the Yankton Reservation was as replete with in- 
terest as our entrance. Andrew Botin, the first adult baptized by our 
Yankton Missionary, met us with a deputation of his neighbors, six miles 
below the central Chapel. They plead successfully for a school-house to 
be built there, stating that education is the only hope for their children. 
We promised to collect money immediately, and erect a school-house on 
the site they had selected. 

When we reached the lower end of the Resei-^^atiou, occupied by 
Mad Bull's Band, that once impetuous chief was waiting qur arrival 
at the Chapel, which he had aided in building. The bell was rung 
and all his people were assembled in the Chu.rch to meet us. After 
religious service in their own language, by the Rev. Mr. Hinman, 
and our addresses through an interjireter. Mad Bull asked his 
young Christian men to speak for him, which they did humbly but earn- 
estly. They said that all the people attended Church, and that the 
children went to school except during planting season. They also truly 
said that this band of Indians is sober, although a whiskey ranche is with- 
in fifty yards of their Reservation, Mr. Robinson, their white teacher, who 
lives in the Mission House adjoining the Chapel, testifies to the sobriety 
and industry of these Indians. As we left the Yankton Reservation, 
Mad Bull accompanied me in a walk to all the fields and patches under 
cultivation, that I might see the work of his people. Their little herd is 
allowed to increase from year to year, for they do not kill any of them. 
Mad Bull's sou, who had for a little season yielded to temptation, was 
silent in the Church, but privately handed a letter to the Rev. Mr. 
Hinman. He said that he had learned by sad experience that there were 
many sloughs in the Christian's pathway, and that through carelessness 
he had been mired for a little season in one of them, and meant to be 

3 



18 

more watcliful in the future. A "sun-dance" had been held on the 
Yankton Reservation a few days before we reached it, but at the request 
of the Agent, every barbarous practice had been omitted. If the arrange- 
ments had not been fully made before it was known to the Agent, I 
think out of respect to him it would have been discontinued. Much 
credit is due to the Rev. John P. Williamson, Jr., a model Missionary of 
the Presbjrterian Church, who also has wrought a great work at this 
Agency. 

SANTEE SIOUX. 

This tribe of Indians, being in the State of Nebraska, is included in 
the Superintendency which President Grant gave to one of the Societies 
of Friends. They nominate and supervise the Superintendent and the 
Agents, for the Santee Sioux, Omaha, Winnebago, Pawnee, Otoe, and 
other Indians. 

The Episcoijal Church and the American Board of Commissioners. had 
Missionaries with these Santee Sioux, in Minnesota, before they were 
in a measure drawn into the massacre of 1863. The chiefs who had been 
influenced by Christianity, performed important services by delivering 
up hundreds of white prisoners taken by the hostile Indians. This tribe, 
after having been protected at Fort Snelling, was taken to Crow Creek, 
and starved there, as is alleged and believed, by the frauds and neglect of 
those to whose care they were entrusted by the Government. They were 
at length located on their present Reservation, and after unjustifiable de- 
lays, are now being settled on farms of 80 acres, allotted to each family. 
Those who knew these Indians when in Minnesota, and have recently vis- 
ited them, are amazed at what God hath wrought. Then blood-thirsty and 
vindictive, and abounding in superstitious rites ; now thoroughly peace- 
ful, industrious and thrifty ; each family owning a log house built wholly 
or in part with their own hands. They are clothed like other civilized 
people ; nearly all of them read and write in their own language and 
many speak English. A verv fcAv Indian policemen, mainly used in pvo- 
tecting their Reservation from bad whites, preserve perfect order in this 
community. Houses are unlocked, carpenters and other mechanics leave 
valuable tools out during the night, and, as they testify, without losing 
one of them. I know of no community of whites, comprising the same 
number, in any one district, as industrious, as moral, and as religious as 
the Santee Sioux of Nebraska. The Rev. S. D. Hinman, our Missionary, 
has the best organized congregation that I have ever known in any com- 
munity. Pie is assisted by a most devoted Indian Presbyter, two Indian 



19 . 

Deacons and a large body of earnest catechists, both men and women. 
We were present at his weekly meeting, composed of catechists and other 
young men, whom they had drawn there for instruction. The catechists 
subsequently asked for a separate interview, speaking through Joseph 
Wabasha, the son and heir of the head chief and a devout and exemplary 
Christian, He is also a skillful and industrious mechanic and agriculturist. 
Speaking for his fellow catechists, he manifested deep gratitude for what 
had been done for his tribe, and promised the assistance of the young 
men in carrying the blessing of Christianity from house to house and 
heart to heart. This band of catechists is detailed to watch over the 
weak, the tempted, the erring and the sick, and they do it systematically 
and effectually in their various districts. 

The older Christians also sought an interview and manifested like 
gratitude. At this memorable conference, Wabasha, the head chief, con- 
fessed that if the tribe had listened to the good advice given by their 
Great Father, when it was in Minnesota, instead of persisting, as the 
Santee then did, in their wicked and foolish ways, they would have been 
saved from much misery, and would long since have been brought into 
the happy way in which they are now so peacefully walking. They have 
been so often driven from their homes by the rapacity of the whites, that 
although they now have full faith in Christians, there is a little lingering 
apprehension that the present state of things will not always continue. 
They said that some of their white neighbors had assured them that the 
people of Nebraska meant to drive them out of the State as soon as the 
ground they now occupy was wanted by white settlers. I assured them 
that the day of such wrong and oppression to the Indian had passed, 
never to return. That in my opinion any Indian who takes an allotment 
of land on their own Reservation, builds a house, occupies it, cultivates 
the soil, will have a title as secure as that of any white man. I said that 
this kind of title had been confirmed by the Supreme Court and acknowl- 
edged by the great Council of our Nation as well as by its Chief Magis- 
trate. I further comforted these Indiivns with the assurance that in con- 
nection with our Church there are eminent lawyers prepared to defend to 
the uttermost the just title of the Indian to his land. This reassurance 
was needed, for some of their people had feared to put valuable improve- 
ments on their land lest, a;s hitherto, it might be taken from them. 

Mr. Webster, their excellent Agent, begged me to look into the state 
of their accounts with the Government, and, if possible, to procure for 
them the implements and cattle they now need to make them indepeu- 



20 

deut and productive citizens. A Church, a Mission-house and a commo- 
dious Hospital were utterly destroyed by a fearful whirlwind two years 
since. All but the hospital have been rebuilt of more durable materials, 
and are still larger and more beautiful than the first. ' 

These Indians realize that Christianity has lifted them from degrada- 
tion, and therefore venerate their Churches much as the Jews did their 
Temple at Jerusalem. Nowhere else have I ever seen as reverent wor- 
ship. On Sunday the children and adults filled the Church at 9 o'clock, 
and at 10^ o'clock it was again full for the regular morning service, the 
congregation uniting in the responses, and in chanting and singing. 
The choristers, comprising young men as well as boys, meet weekly for 
practice, and on Sunday occupy the chou- adjoining the chancel. There 
was no levity among them ; indeed, they seemed to sing with the "spirit 
as well as the understanding." The musical portion of these services 
seems especially attractive, serving to attune these Indians for spiritual 
worship. There sat Paul Mazakute, the Indian Presbyter, who, though 
failing in health, tells incessantly at a mission station, by deeds and 
words, of Jesus and His salvation. Those who understand the Dakota 
language say there are few better preachers, and none who manifest 
more beautifully the spirit of their Lord. Near him was the Deacon, 
Christian Taopi, so far wasted by a pulmonary affection as to look like 
one on the very borders of what he calls "my other home." One of his 
eyes is disfigured by a wound received on the war-path when a mere 
stripling, hence his name Taopi, "wounded man." His minister and 
co-workers testify that they never saw a more holy, zealous and uni- 
formly consistent Christian. You may well supj)ose that every nerve 
within us thrilled as we partook of the Lord's Supper, kneeling side by 
side with Indians who were once the fiercest warriors, or the most super- 
stitious medicine men, now humble, consistent and devoted Christians, 
with the respect and confidence of all the whites and Indians who know 
them. In this Church there are nearly three hundred communicants, 
although the tribe numbers but nine hundred of all ages, and there is 
another Mission connected with the American Board. To give com- 
pleteness to their organization, the catechists and the Christian chiefs 
modestly, but earnestly, asked that another Hospital might be built, in 
which their sick and injured could be properly cared for, and freed from 
quackery and the superstitious rites still secretly practiced by one or two 
old medicine men. We will try to comply with their request this season, 
and also to found a Boarding-school for girls, that we may have native 



21 

women teachers and suitable wives for the young men of the various 
Sioux tribes who are being thoroughly educated. Girls, more timid 
than boys, and having fewer opportunities of being with English-speak- 
ing people, seldom acquire our language. Experience has demonstrated 
that it is better to have a boarding-school for girls in the Indian country, 
than to send them where they are likely to acquire tastes and habits 
which will unfit them for living with their families. INIrs, Hinman and 
the other zealous teachers and ministering women connected with this 
Mission, deserve high commendation for their intelligent and sympathiz- 
ing labors. 

THE PONKA INDIANS. 

When I first visited the Ponkas, nearly two years since, they interested 
me deeply, being well nigh in a starving condition, because they were too 
peaceable to awaken the fears of the nation, and the Government had 
not then adopted this principle of equity which is now very generally 
received: "When a civilized people deprive the uncivilized possessors 
of the soil, of their food and clothing, bountifully provided for them by 
their Creator, the civilized people are bound to subsist and clothe the un- 
civilized until they can be made self-supporting." The hunting-grounds 
of the Ponkas had been circumscribed, and their game destroyed or 
driven beyond their reach ; whilst raising Indian com in a rude way was 
the only means of subsistence known to them, and on this article of diet 
alone no human being can healthfully subsist. 

At my first visit their crops had failed from excessive drought, and 
they were tantalized by seeing great herds of cattle, intended to feed the 
wild hostile Sioux, pass through their Reservation, even eating their 
grass. Steamboat loads of pork and flour, coffee, sugar and tobacco, 
with an abundance of clothing, passed by them up the Missouri for the 
same destination. The Sioux thus fed and clothed were in the constant 
habit of making raids on the Ponkas, stealing their horses, destroying 
their crops, and killing their people when found away from their village. 
When I asked if they would like to take the first and most important step 
toward civilization, by having their land surveyed and allotted to them 
in separate farms, they said : ' ' This is impossible vintil we can be pro- 
tected in accordance with a stipulation in our treaty." That stipulation 
is to this day virtually a dead letter, for the murder of peaceful Indians 
on such Reservations is not dealt with as it would be if the same Indians 
attacked a settlement of whites. It is high time that this treaty stipula- 



22 

tion should be observed, and I feel confident that you will give your pow- 
erful aid in bringing this about. 

All the experienced ai-my officers with whom I have conversed think 
the civilization of the Indian is impossible, unless, when he puts himself 
under the care of the Government and stays on the Reservation, he is 
well fed, and as fully protected as his white neighbor. These raids on 
the Ponkas continue to this time. Two months since a raiding party 
from one of the wild camps connected with the Upper Brule Sioux came 
through Nebraska, and made a descent on the Ponkas. They killed and 
scalped, and otherwise mutilated one of the Ponkas, who had ventured a 
mile or two from the village in search of his horse. The whole tribe then 
rallied and pursued them, but they could not bring them within range of 
their bows and arrows, and other imperfect implements of defence. In 
their grief, some of them sent an appeal to be allowed to join the Omahas, 
of Nebraska, as they speak the same language and have a common de- 
scent. All, however, united in an urgent request that Mrs. Stanforth, 
the mother of our Missionary, and, as the Indians say, their mother, 
would in person take to me their appeal for arms, to enable them the 
more effectually to resist these attacks. They sent by her not only the 
scalping-knife with which their brother was mutilated, but also one of 
the balls and a copper cartridge-shell, to show that the attacking party 
had breech-loading guns, of long range and accurate aim. During your 
absence, I visited Washington, and after conference with the Commis- 
sioner of Indian Affairs, I obtained an order for arms from the Secretary 
of War, at the request of the acting Secretary of the Interior. Through 
the courtesy of Lieut. -Col. Otis, of Fort Randall, the Ponkas have about 
half the requisite number of guns. On the 14th of June, before the anus 
had been received, another war party of the Sioux made a descent upon 
the Reservation. This party had been seen by Major Sweitzer, of Ne- 
braska, and full particulars given to Gen. Ord, at Omaha, the Comman- 
der of the Division of the Platte. He reported sixty-seven Ogallalla and 
Upper Brule warriors, well mounted, and many of them armed with breech- 
loading guns. Both of these expeditions foraged upon and were fed by 
the people of Nebraska, who wei-e told that it was only an expedition 
against Indians, and not whites. This second attack was made just as 
the steamboat Peninah made a landing, and drew the attention of the 
people to the river front. Fortunately the Sioux were discovered just 
as they slid from their horses to crawl through the long grass. The alarm 
was given, and Lieut. Smith, with his party of twenty-four uimiouuted 
soldiers, did what he could for the defence of the Reservation. 



23 



The war spirit of the Ponkas was instantly roiised, aud their charge 
was so impetuous, that even with miserable weapons they drove the well 
armed Sioux and Ogallalla at all points, pursuing them for more than 
twenty miles, until they took cover in a dense wood. The Ponkas wounded 
some two or three of the Sioux, as they were aftei-wards seen on travoys 
(horse litters). Under such circumstances, you can well understand how 
cordially we were welcomed by this starving and persecuted people, some 
75 of whom, out of a population of 733, are suffering from scrofulous 
diseases resulting mainly, as the physicians testify, from insufficient and 
improper diet. The announcement that under the appropriation bill 
Tvhichtook effect on the first of the month, you had it in your power to 
feed them, was cheering indeed, for they believe me implicitly. Yet, like 
Jacob of old, their spirits wiU not fully revive until they see the wagons 
laden with good things. The Ponkas have improved more than could 
have been expected under the circumstances. They cultivate the soil 
and even use the largest plows, breaking the prairie sod as accurately as 
any white farmer I have ever seen. I agreed with them and their Agent, 
to dispense with the services of the white farmer, and to divide his salary 
among three young Indian men who will be apprenticed to the black- 
smithlthe carpenter, and the mechanic who acts as engineer, and runs the 
grist and saw mill. The Ponkas have not yet had the opportunity of 
learning these trades, for they have been too poor to pay apprentices, as 
is found necessary elsewhere to insure regularity, industry and persever- 
ance. Where this system of paying apprentices has been fully tried, it 
has resulted in producing good Indian mechanics. 

In the Council the Ponkas spoke most highly of our Missionary aud of 
his mother, whom they call their mother, aud to whom they look as to a 
ministering angel. They touchingly alluded to her tears at the death of 
theircomrade, and whentrying to relieve their sick and suffering. Idid not 

^■onder at this, when I saw a lady of refinement cleansing and anointmg a 
most loathsome scrofulous patient, and then providing nourishmg food 
for her and for others, wjio needed sustenance more than medical care. 
Our Missionary is trying to reduce their barbarous language to writing', 
having already formed more than 5,000 words, 3,000of them being verbs ; 
many," however, have but a single tense. The schools composed of 
adults and children are prosperous, and as the Christian religion 
came to this people in its most lovely garb, their superstitious prejudices 
are <.radually melting away. We were not at the Ponka Reservation on 
Sunday, but we witnessed a service of deep interest. A beautiful Church 



24 

is in process of construction, and we appropriately inaugurated its ser- 
vices by a baptism solemnized on a temporary floor laid over the joist. 
Ten men, three women, and fifteen children were baptized, and two 
women who had been privately baptized in infancy, made a public ac- 
knowledgment of their Church membership. One of these men was so 
strongly prejudiced against Christians, that at first he would neither 
speak to nor look at the Missionary. Loving acts, insensibly to himself, 
were impressing his mind and heart, until he was constrained openly to 
confess Christ. He now seems firm in his purpose, and from his intelli- 
gence and earnestness he will, beyond doubt, strongly influence his fellows 
for good. 

Although the Ponkas were glad to hear that a sympathizing Secretary 
of the Interior and Commissioner of Indian Affairs are now authorized 
to feed them just as they had long fed their murderous enemies, and al- 
though they were greatly relieved when guns were loaned to them for 
defence, and were much pleased at the target-practice necessary to famil- 
iarize them with the moveable sight graduated for long ranges, yet there 
seemed to be hanging over them an unaccountable sadness which we 
could not understand. 

Before leaving the Reservation we visited the village of the full-blooded 
Indians on the banks of the Niobrara. These Indians begged for a sepa- 
rate Council at which they portrayed piteously their inability to improve 
in the ways of the white man, when in hourly dread lest the Sioux should 
suddenly spring up and murder them, their wives and children. They 
said: " How can we go to God's House with guns in our hands? We 
love our Missionary and his mother, and want them to be our teachers 
and guides wherever we are." They then said that the Omahas, their 
brethren after the flesh, had oflfered to receive them and incorporate them 
into their tribe and to exchange part of their Reservation for an equal 
quantity of land belonging to the Ponkas. As the idea of thus getting a 
peaceful home had taken complete possession of this half-starved and 
long neglected people, it was in vain that we pictured to them their 
beautiful land and the graves of their loved ones. 

My companions having other engagements, went to Minnesota and to 
Wisconsin to visit our Indian Missions there. In fulfillment of a promise 
to meet a delegation of Ponkas at the Omaha Reservation, I started for 
Omaha City with the lady before referred to, and succeeded in inducing 
Gen. Ord, Commander of the Platte Division, and Mr. Barclay White, 
the Superintendent of Indian Agencies in Nebraska, to accompany me and 



be present at the conference between the Ponkas and the Omahas. The 
Omaha chiefs said that they felt deep sympathy with their suffering 
brethren, and that they would cordially welcome them on the land condi- 
tionally sold to and occupied by the Winnebagoes, if that tribe could be 
removed from it. The clause to which they referred is Art. 5, in the 
Treaty of March 6th, 1865, reading thus: "Should their location there 
prove detrimental to the peace, quiet and harmony of the whites, as well 
as of the two tribes of Indians, then the Omahas shall have the privilege 
of repurchasing the laud herein ceded, upon the same terms they now 
sell." The tract measures about 97,000 acres, and |50,000 was the price 
paid. The ground upon which the Omahas based their right to repur- 
chase is, that the Wiunebagos are in the habit of stealing their horses, 
although not of molesting or injuring the persons, or any other property 
of the Omahas. It seems desirable that the Ponkas should be freed from 
disheartening strife, and live peaceably with their brethren where civil- 
izing influences can be favorably exerted. Another reason that induced 
me to give the subject a thorough investigation, was that by the Treaty of 
1868, known as the "Peace Commissioners Treaty," the Government of 
the United States solemnly conveyed to the Sioux Nation, the Reserva- 
tion which belonged to and was in possession of the Ponka Indians at 
the time the Treaty was made. As this may some time occasion a diffi- 
culty, it appeared to me wise to seek for a remedy. 

We were much pleased with the Omahas and their worthy Agent, Dr. 
E. Painter, who has been long and favorably known to me. Their Reser- 
vation is the most desirable and fertile I have ever seen. The Indians are 
making steady progress in education and in industrial pursuits. The 
white carpenter, shoemaker, and other mechanics, speak well of their 
Indian apprentices and assistants, who receive liberal wages. 

Gen. Ord and Superintendent White then accompanied me to the 
Winnebago Reservation, contiguous to that of the Omahas, and twenty- 
four miles below Sioux City, on the west bank of the Missouri River. We 
were all much pleased with the Agent, a son of Superintendent White, 
and with the teachers, employees and Indians under his charge. The 
Winnebagoes are certainly more attractive in their appearance and man- 
ners than any large body of Indians I have ever seen. Both here and on 
the Omaha Reservation, the Indians are steadily increasing in industry 
and in the intelligent cultivation of the soil. They are thoroughly peace- 
able, are not complained of by their white neighbors and when they can 
get a supply of cattle and agricidtural appliances, they will soon become 
4 



26 

productive citizens. This time will soou arrive vrith the Omahas • as to 
enable them to stock their farms, &c., they have have just been author- 
ized to sell to white settlers 50,000 acres of their land under restrictions 
that will insure a fair sale. On minute inquiry, we found that the 
Omahas had no sufficient cause of complaint against the Winnebagoes, 
to warrant the contemplated purchase. The Winnebagoes have occupied 
the land for seven years and improved it, and the United States has 
erected mills and other buildings at large cost; therefore a repurchase is 
not likely to be allowed unless for flagrant and continued wrong doing. 

As far as we could learn, the horse-stealing is mainly, and perhaps 
solely chargeable to the Winnebagoes of Wisconsin, who use up their 
ponies in visiting their relatives in Nebraska and then replenish their 
stock from an adjoining tribe. Indians of the same tribe rarely steal from 
each other. The difficulty complained of by the Omahas has no doubt 
been amicably adjusted at a Council which was to be held two days after 
I left there, at which Superintendent White, the two Agents, and selected 
men from the Omahas and Winnebagoes were to meet for the purpose of 
making some equitable arrangement. 

It appeared that the offer made to the Ponkas for an exchange of laud witli 
the Omahas was wholly without warrant, therefore the Ponkas are likely 
to remain on their Reservation, and should be defended from all attacking 
parties in accordance with a stipulation in their Treaty. At a conference 
with Lieut. -Gren. Sheridan, at Chicago, on the 2d inst., he expressed deep 
sympathy with the Ponkas and with all other peaceable Indians who are 
on their Reservations. As the usual route of the Ogallalla and Upper Brule 
Sioux, when on the war-path, is through Nebraska, Gen. Ord will watch 
for them in that direction, and Lieut.-Gen. Sheridan ]Dromised to direct 
Gen. Hancock, Avho is charged with the defence of Dakota to cooperate 
with him, that the Ponkas may be thoroughly protected on both sides of 
their Reservation and all attacking war parties punished. 

In dictating this detailed sketch of my visitation, without notes or 
memoranda of any kind, I have presumed on your philanthropic dispo- 
sition towards the Indians, and the great gravity of the subject which at 
this time is being dragged into the arena of politics. The merciful policy 
towards the Indians, inaugurated and persistently followed up by Presi- 
dent Grant, meets with the universal favor of all right-minded people 
with whom I have been brought into contact. It is not to be, forgotten, 
however, that many persons are still skeptical of "Indian Civilization and 
Christianization," owing to strong prejudices against the red man, or 



27 

because they have only seen Indians corrupted by contact with bad 
whites. So far as I may be viewed as a credible eye-witness, these details 
must remove some prejudice and inspire hopefulness, and this readily 
accounts for the character of this report. Another reason for extendino- 
this report is, that an organized opposition to the present Administration 
is being formed in our frontier States and Territories, because the Presi- 
dent has placed the large appropriations for Indians beyond the reach of 
the dishonest men who claim this patronage as their right. Powerful 
combinations, formed to dispossess Indians of their lands, having been 
foiled by President Grant, are usiug money and influence to create a di- 
vision in the Rej)ublican party. Such men, and the papers under their 
control, pronounce the President's Indian policy a failure; hence the im- 
portance of publishing the testimony of credible eye-witnesses, who 
neither hold nor desire any office under the Government, and do not re- 
ceive honor or profit from it. When an Administration i§ traduced for 
its noblest and most merciful act, it surely behooves every good citizen to 
lend his testimony to the truth. The following editorial was written by 
the man who was prevented by President Grant from leading a land- 
stealing party into the great Sioux Reservation, with the avowed design 
of robbing the Indian of rights guaranteed to him by solemn treaty. 
The editor of the Western paper in which it appeared brought it to the 
hotel, and had the article marked and sent to my room. If a private 
citizen, who pays his own expenses and does not disburse a dollar of the 
public money, is thus villified, the abuse heaped upon men in office may 
be imagined : 

"AVilliam Welsh, a distinguished member of the Indian ring, and a 
disburser of a large share of the religious stealings and patronage con- 
nected with the management of Indian Affairs on the Upper Missouri, is 
trjang to bolster up the interests he represents by writing hj'pocritical 
letters in the name of religion, in favor of Indians, to Western newspa- 
pers. Whenever you hear a fellow connect the name of either religion, 
honesty or philanthropy with the Indian government on the Upper Mis- 
souri, he can safely be put down as a religiously- washed thief." '"The 
election of Horace Greeley will purge the Indian Department of its putrid 
ulcers." 

I was truly thankful for this editorial, as it enabled me to realize the 
designs of some of the men who are striving to divide the Republican 
party. It is due to some of the Western Democratic papers to state that 



28 

their justice to the present Administration in its merciful Indian policy 
is in striking contrast with some of the so-called Republican papers. 

It also affords me pleasure to testify to the noble conduct of prominent 
members of the Democratic party, Senators, Representatives, editors, and 
other distinguished and merciful men, and to thank them for their official 
support in the small share that has been allotted to me of the great Avork 
of dealing justly with the aboi'igines of this land. Indians wer6 cheered 
when I told them that President Grant had been renominated, and a 
Vice President who also will deal justly and mercifully with Indians 
under all circumstances. 

I cannot close this report without asking that the consideration of the 
Indian Office and of the Department of the Interior, and so far as it may 
be necessary, of the President of the United States, be given to the fol- 
lowing subjects of practical importance to the Indians and to the various 
religious bodies called upon to aid in civilizing them: 

1. XOIITII PACIFIC RAILliOAD. 

This subject is of such grave moment, requiring such a combination of 
Governmental power and intelligent philanthropic consideration, that I 
suggest the appointment of a Commission, comprising Officers of the 
Army, of the Railroad, and men of intelligence, who have the confidenco 
of Indians and can properly represent their interests. 

As I desire to speak without restraint, I will state that no member of 
my family or of my mercantile firm,* has either directly or indirectly any 
interest in the North Pacific Railroad, or its branches, or lands, or in the 
country which it is likely to open up. Being somewhat familiar with the 
subject, I am now free to state that I know of no modern enterprise so 
important to this country as the North Pacific Railroad. I do not refer 
to the road as a continuance of the great natural highway through the 
northern lakes, or of its importance in developing the mineral and agri- 
cultural resources of a vast country otherwise valueless, or of its value 
as a highway to the territories on the northwestern extremity of this 
country, great as these are. I desire now to consider this railway as a 
military necessity, enabling the War Department to bring the lawless In- 
dians of the North into subjection, and thus to aid effectively the reUgious 
bodies charged with bringing Christian civilization to bear upon the 
Northern Indians. This gives the road a national importance, and should 
mduce all who will be assisted by it in the great work of civilizing the 
aborigines, to aid in removing difficulties which may otherwise retard its 



29 



To some parts of the land traversed by this road, Indians 
have natural rights, and to others treaty stipulations, that white men 
shall not pass through or settle on the land, without the permission of 
the Indian tribes having been first obtained. It is probable that all be- 
lieve that this road, with its beneficial and civilizing influences, should 
not be delayed in its construction because a barbarous people desire to 
roam undisturbed, or to procure from large tracts of fertile land susten- 
ance and clothing. It is, however, clear that the possessors of the soil 
have equities which shovild be intelligently determined and liberally paid 
for by the Government. If a large military force is placed in that re- 
gion, and the equities of the Indians are fairly considered, I do not anti- 
cipate either trouble or delay in the construction of the road. Hence, in 
ray judgment, the importance of a Commission such as that now suggested. 
I was appealed to in regard to this road, in councils and in private con- 
ferences with Indians, to whom I promised that the subjec.t should i 



. receive 



consideration. 

Speaking with Indians as their friend, without being connected with 
the Government or the road, I assured them that nothing could prevent 
its completion, unless it was a power that could hinder the sun from 
shining or the clouds from giving rain. I told them that their Great 
Father in Washington had not power enough to prevent the railroad 
from being made, even if he desked it, but that I felt sure he would not 
allow any'rights of the Indians to be trampled upon, as he was their 
avowed friend. I told them that wise men would this season confer with 
some of the Indian tribes on the subject, and if they had any just claims, 
I was confident that such would be properly considered and settled, 
unless there was an attempt on the part of Indians to resist the Govern- 
ment. The Indians on Reservations can, to a certain extent, influence 
those who are roving, but the presence of a large military power can 
alone insure peace. 

Although the Indian is trained from his youth to self-sacrifice, and to 
stoical endurance when in captivity, yet he has quite as much regard for 
his personal safety as any other man. Bringing Indians to Washington, 
who are resistant of authority, seems to work a mighty change in them, 
as they realise the futility of resisting the power of the white man. Dr. 
Daniels, in a letter to me dated the 1st instant, speaks most encourag- 
ingly of the pacific influence and civilizing eff-ect of their visit upon the 
Indian chiefs whom he lately brought to Washington. If this system 
is extended, the Government can get allies that will insure a peaceful 



30 

continuance of the North Pacific Raih'oad, especially as the officers of 
the road have entered into an agreement to befriend Indians by giving 
them a preference in furnishing supplies, and in the transportation of 
merchandise. 

2. WHISKEY TRAFFIC ON THE MISSOURI. 

xillow me to ask, through you, that officers of the army in that region 
be directed to prevent the landing of whiskey on or near Indian Reser- 
vations. The influx of low whites to the line of the railroad is well cal- 
culated to aggravate Indians ; therefore, at this time it is especially im- 
portant that the existing trade in whiskey should be stopped. It may 
become necessary to declare all that region Indian Country, and for a 
time to allow no traffic of any kind, except through licensed traders, 
who have too much at stake to violate the severe existing laws. A mili- 
tary commander can suppress this illegal traffic by a very summary pro- 
cess, whilst appeals to territorial courts have thus far presented little 
obstacle to it. Messrs. Durfee & Peck, the principal steamboat owners 
on the Missouri Ptiver, being urgent for the destruction of the whiskey 
traffic, write thus to me, under date of the 29th ult. : "The crews and, 
at times, the officers of our own boats, smuggle whiskey on board to 
trade to soldiers and Indians. To our own knowledge, whiskey has 
been sold to Indians on Reservations put up in tin fruit cans, labelled 
and purporting to be peaches, tomatoes, «S:c. We have known bottles of 
whiskey tied to a fishing line and dropped overboard- at night to float to a 
given point below the boat, where the dealer sold the liquor to Indians 
and soldiers." 

If, as I suppose, the treaty made by the Peace Commissioners indicates 
the eastern bank of the JMissouri as the boundary of the Indian Reserva- 
tion, your control is, I presume, complete. 

3. INDIANS ON THE WAR-PATH. 

Allow me to suggest that notice be given, through all Indian Agents, 
that hereafter Indians who go on war parties against other Indians 
located on Reservations, shall receive the same treatment as if attacking 
white persons, and that Army Officers be directed to carry this order into 
effect. This notice should also extend to horse-stealing jDai'ties, as that 
is often the avowed intention of war parties, and the life of Indians is 
always taken when they attempt to thwart horse thieves. It is vain to 
try to make indiistrious, self-supporting citizens of the Pawnees, the 
Ponkas, the Arickarees, and other peaceable Indians, who are subject to 



31 

raids from the Sioux, unless these war parties can be effectually stopped. 
I have already spoken at length about the effect of war parties on the 
Poukas, and Mr. Barclay White, the Superintendent of Indian Affairs in 
Nebraska, writes thus to me, under date of the 28th ult. : "Allotments of 
land in severalty have been made to the Skider band of Pawnee Indians, 
but they are prevented from moving their families on the said allotments 
for fear of raiding parties from the Brule and OgaUalla bands of Sioux. 
Two such raids were made during 1871. In the first, three squaws work- 
ing in a corn-field, were murdered, and the last resulted in the death of 
two school-boys. If these raids could be stopped, the Pawnees would 
turn their attention to agriculture, and I believe the raids to be the great- 
est impediment to their progress in civilization. ' ' I trust that this sub- 
ject will receive your prompt consideration. 

4. INDIANS ON HUNTING PARTIES. 

I ask you to consider the propriety of disallowing, as soon as may be, 
the customary biennial hunt, now made under authority from your office. 
Where Indians are supplied with animal food, clothing and shoes, there 
is no necessity for their hunting, whilst it promotes vagrancy, and tribal 
animosity, and hinders them from making material progress in agriculture 
or the mechanic arts. Intelligent Army Ofiicers and Agents are of the 
opinion that it costs less to the people to feed Indians on their Reserva- 
tions rintil they can be incited to self-support, than to allow them to go 
on hunting parties. The rights of the frontier settler should no longer be 
invaded and his larder emptied by these wandering Arabs, whose appetite 
he does not like to refuse to satisfy. The hardy pioneers of civilization 
complain sadly of these hunting parties, and Army Officers find it very 
difficult to determine between them and a war party. Last week when 
I was on the Omaha Eeservation, I learned that those Indians had pretty 
much concluded that they would not make up a hunting party after this 
summer as their home interests suffer thereby. Agents often prevent 
Indians from starting on the summer hunt until after the second hoeing 
of their corn, and even then the crop yields little in very dry weather 
because the surface of the ground is not regularly stirred. 

5. KEEPING INDIANS ON RESERVATIONS. 

Please restrain Indian Agents from issuing rations, except under ex- 
traordinary circumstances, to Indians who are not recorded as belonging 
to that Reservation, or to those who leave it without the permission of 
the Agent. All Indians on Reservations should be notified that after the 



32 

issue of this order they can only draw rations on the Reservation where 
tlieir names are registered, unless they have a written certificate from 
their Agent stating the time for which he authorizes their absence, the 
object they have in leaving, and the number of rations he has issiied 
when they started on their journey. If Indians are to become self-sup- 
porting, or settled tillers of the soil, their migratory habits must be 
checked. They now occasionally draw a week's rations at one place and 
then visit other Agencies and draw in like manner. After the distribu- 
tion of annuity goods, Indians usually scatter and often barter or sell 
their clothing through improvidence. It will be well, therefore, that such 
Indians be notified that clothing is furnished for individual use, and, if 
sold, the Agent will be restrained from giving them a supply the coming 
season. 

6. RATIONS TO FAMILIES AND NOT TO BANDS. 

I ask that an order be issued obliging Indian Agents within sixty days 
after the receipt of the direction, to issue rations to families and not to 
bands, as is commonly practiced. Congress has decreed that no more 
Treaties shall be made with Indians, having in view the importance of 
dissolving their tribal relation and preparing them for citizenship. 
Hitherto Superintendents, Agents, and Commissioners appointed to treat 
with Indians, have found it easier to bribe chiefs than to deal with the 
great body of the Indians. This practice is so injurious in many ways 
that it should be stopped. Indians have in most cases lost confidence in 
their chiefs, and they do not hesitate in their presence to declare that 
they have accepted bribes to induce them to sign dishonest treaties. 
The head soldiers, or as in some cases the "soldiers' lodges," hold the 
power, except where rations are issued to the chief and distributed by him. 
This feeding power gives the chief undue influence and he often favors 
certain members of his band and neglects the superannuated, the widow, 
and the orphan. The distribution of rations to families has been tried 
on some Reservations, and in spite of the opposition of chiefs, it works 
admirably and economically, as the number in each family is counted, 
issue-cards are given, separate days appointed for the different bands 
and the cards are punched at each issue, therefore, fraud is impossible. 
On one Reservation of 2,000 Indians, one issue-clerk suffices, as he can 
weigh and deliver all the rations during the six days of the week. The 
slight addition of expense is saved by avoiding frauds, and the benefits 
of the system in other ways are incalculable. It is important that the 
order should be issued at Washington, for all Agents have not that 



33 

peculiar power of controlling -savage men, that will warrant their hazard- 
ing the enmity of the chiefs. 

7. RATIONS DECBEASED TO THE IDLE. 

Where rations other than beef and flour, the necessaries of life, are 
issued, it is high time that the Agents be directed to give notice that in 
six mouths after the issue of this order, rations of pork, sugar, coffee, 
tobacco, etc., or indeed any extra rations, shall cease, in the case of eacli 
man who does not in person, and in a manner satisfactory to the Agent, 
cultivate the soil or engage in some other productive industry. As Indians 
have said that they saw no occasion to work, being satisfactorily fed with- 
out it. such an order is necessary, and Agents have not the authority, 
neither would it be wise for them to issue it. Such a stimulus to industry 
is found necessary with white people ; and it is much more important 
with Indians who have a hereditary belief that the war-path alone ennobles, 
and labor degrades. This proposal will not violate any Treaty stipulation, 
as the articles proposed to be withheld from indolent Indians are gratuities. 

8. BATIONS USED TO PROMOTE EDUCATION. 

Compulsory education has wrought great benefits in States and in 
kingdoms even where there is a reasonable ambition for education, and 
children are subjected to parental control. The native American is still 
a child of natui-e, caring little for what we term education, and his chil- 
dren are allowed to develop naturally, being rarely subjected to authority. 
Under such circumstances Governmental schools have generally failed in 
their purpose, and although many Mission schools are successful, yet 
they are too costly, because clothing, food, or other things must 
often be given to children to induce them to attend with regularity. 
Fortunately in the great Sioux treaty of 1868, there is an obligation on 
the part of the Indians to send their children to school. I propose that 
an order be issued to take effect on the 1st day of July, 1873, that no 
rations be issued to Indian children between the ages of eight and eigh- 
teen, who reside within a reasonable distance of a suitable school, unless 
they produce a certificate from the teacher that they have attended school 
not less than six months during the preceding year, and have conducted 
themselves with propriety. 

9. STRIPPING THE HOUSE OP MOURNING. 

In many of the Indian tribes, as soon as the death of any member of a 
family is announced, their neighbors consider it a religious duty to pro- 



34 

mote proper sorrow by taking every moveable thing avray from the 
house or tent, leaving the inmates old, tattered garments. At the 
death of a child parents are subjected by their neighbors to this process, 
and even the widow and the orphan are completely stripped and left in a 
most pitiable condition. This custom discourages Indians from accumu- 
lating moveable property, therefore I ask that an order be issued to the 
Indians on Reservations to discontinue the practice, and to the Agents to 
restore the property so taken to its former owner, with the aid of military 
force, if necessary. Our Missionaries have, in many cases, induced the 
afflicted family successfully to resist this encroachment upon their rights, 
but it subjects the Indian to an opprobrivim from which the Government 
should try to screen him. Indians cannot become traders until this 
custom is discontinued. 

10. TITLE TO FARMS. 

Indians on some of the Reservations where their land has been sur- 
veyed and farms given to families or individuals, are discouraged from 
making valuable improvements because of some ambiguity in the form 
of certificate issued, showing an uncei-tainty in their title. Superintend- 
ents and Indian Agents desire to be able to assure the Indians that they 
are the bona fide owners of the land allotted to them, therefore allow me 
to suggest that the law officers of the Government be called on to prepare 
satisfactory title deeds, or to indicate the form of legislation that may be 
necessary. At the Cheyenne Agency some of the best Indians, with the 
view of greater security from the visits of hostiles, have located on the 
east bank of the Missouri River, near Fort Sully. In fulfillment of a 
promise made to the Commander of that Fort, I ask that, if possible, a 
title to farms may be given to such Indians ; for white settlers are never 
likely to need this land, owing to the absence of rain. Indeed it is averred 
that no white man has been able to support himself in that region, un- 
less he was a thief or kept a whiskey ranche. This sweeping assertion, 
made by the most intelligent people in that neighborhood, is not applica- 
ble to a few wood-choijpers located in the timber on the banks of the 
Missouri. 

11, CATTLE FOR BREEDING. 

So much has already been said on this subject in my report, that i 
merely refer to it as one of the subjects which should receive immediate 
consideration. I am sure that you agree with me in the necessity for such 
an encouragement to Indians who are prepared for the movement, and 



35 

desire to become self-supporting ; and if there is any unexpended balance 
from last year's appropriation, you will no doubt, so far as authorized, 
contract for the delivery of suitable cattle. 

13. TKADERS ON KESERVATIONS. 

When the patronage of the Indian Office was allowed to political parti- 
sans a competition among traders could not be expected. Now that no 
person is allowed on the Reservation who is deemed unsuitable by the 
Agent, that difficulty no longer exists, and it is desirable that the Indian 
be able to eifect his sales and make his purchases on as favorable terms 
as his white neighbors. The Indians frequently complained to me that 
the old system had not yet fully passed away. The old habit of paying in 
trade a high nominal price for peltries, and charging exorbitant prices 
for merchandise, is dissatisfying and discouraging to the cash pur- 
chaser. The trader cannot have two prices without dissatisfying the 
Indian, who therefore gets so little for his money, that he charges exor- 
bitant prices for his labor, I am disposed as yet to find fault with the 
system rather than the individuals who practice it, many of them being 
highly honorable men. In some instances we found the Indians paying 
from three times to five times the cost of goods in the Eastern States, 
with freight and expenses added. I feel sure that you will cooperate 
with us in our efibrts to allow a fair competition on Indian Reservations. 

13. PURCHASING SUPPLIES NEAR RESERVATIONS. 

When possible, this should be done as an act of justice to the neigh- 
boring white settlers, and also to make Indian Reservations popular in 
the States in which they are located, and to procure supplies at the lowest 
prices. It is but just that the Government should, as far as is practical 
cable, encourage pioneer settlers by purchasing the products of their 
farms. Indian Reservations are less desirable than the same amount of 
land in the hands of white settlers, and from the improvidence of un- 
civilized Indians, the neighboring farmers often feel obliged to feed them. 
Hence, Indian Reservations are likely to be unpopular in neighborhoods, 
and in States, unless they afford a market for products, which must 
otherwise be carted a great distance. The very low prices of grain near 
several of the Indian Reservations, and the rapid increase in the pro- 
duction of pork and beef cattle, will make purchases there an economic 
measure. In some places wheat can no doubt be had this season at 40 
to 50 cts. a bushel, and if ground on the Agency, it will cost little over 



36 



a cent a pound for good flour. Corn will, from present prospects, be not 
more than half that price. I beg leave to call your attention to the sub- 
ject now, as an amendment to existing laws may be necessary, unless the 
hostility to Indian Reservations creates an exigency that wiU authorize 
purchases in open market, instead of by public bids and contracts. 

It seems proper that I should notify you of an order issued to all 
Agents under our control to disallow the too customary temporary mar- 
riages between white men and Indian women, and in every such instance 
to compel 'such a marriage as is recognized by the laws of the land, mak- 
ing an official record of the same. In the event of a refusal to comply 
wi'th this <n-der. the Agents are directed to eject the offender from the 
Reservation, be he high or low, rich or poor. You can easily understand 
that religious bodies cannot continue the supervision of Indian Resei-va- 
tions upon any other conditions. 

And now, Mr. Secretary, before closing this report, I feel constrained 
by a sense of justice to thank the President of the United States, through 
you, for his firmness in resisting the powerful political pressure for party 
patronage, in connection with the Indian Department, urged, as you well 
know, both plausibly and violently. 

As in a former report to you, I freely censured the wrong, and then 
earnestly contended for Indians' rights, it would be dishonorable in me 
to pass over without comment the noble conduct of our President, at a 
time when political patronage is considered the very life-blood of the 
party. I have seen United States Senators not only claiming as a right 
the nomination of Indian Agents, but also pleading for the privilege of 
appointing a single employe on an Indian Reservation. They were told 
that the President had withdrawn all that appertains to the civilization 
and Christianization of Indians from party patronage, and placed it 
under the control of the various religious bodies of the country. K the 
rulers of China and Japan should authorize the saine religious bodies to 
nominate the Governors of each Province, and to appoint all minor officers, 
with the view of promoting the Christianization of tlie inhabitants, grati- 
tude would be universal ; and I think that the religious people of this 
land have an equal cause for gratitude, and that the greatest national re- 
proach is noAv being rolled off from this nation. 

Yours, very truly, Wm. WELSH. 

to the Missionary Indian Commission. 



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